Plaisance, LSU upset Georgia

LSU forward Theresa Plaisance (55) and Georgia forward Jasmine Hassell (12) battle for control of a loose ball during the second half of Sunday’s game in Baton Rouge. Plaisance finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks as LSU won 62-54.

LSU forward Theresa Plaisance (55) and Georgia forward Jasmine Hassell (12) battle for control of a loose ball during the second half of Sunday’s game in Baton Rouge. Plaisance finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks as LSU won 62-54.

Monday, February 11, 2013

— Determined not to let LSU blow another chance to beat a ranked opponent, Theresa Plaisance demanded the ball.

Lady Tigers guard Jeanne Kenney did not hesitate to comply, whipping her next inbound pass to her 6-foot-5 teammate on the Georgia baseline.

Plaisance drilled a quick release jumper to pull LSU out of a second-half tail spin and into a tie, then finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks as the Lady Tigers upset No. 9 Georgia 62-54 on Sunday.

“That’s a testament to her growth,” Kenney said of Plaisance’s assertiveness. “I had total confidence that she was going to do it.”

Three days after her late game failure at the foul line marred an otherwise dominant 20-point outing in a last-second loss to Tennessee, Plaisance came through in the clutch this time. She converted a strong inside move with 1:33 left to give the Lady Tigers (14-10, 5-6 SEC) a 55-52 lead, and her defensive rebound inside the final minute forced the Lady Bulldogs (20-4, 8-3) to start fouling.

“These past couple games we’ve been playing the toughest teams in the country, and we’ve hung in there for every game and fallen short, and we finally pulled this one out,” Plaisance said. “Coming out and beating a team like Georgia is great motivation and very uplifting, and hopefully it’s going to keep us trucking for the rest of the season.”

Kenney closed an 11-point performance with six free throws in the final 1:04 to help seal the victory after LSU had come up short in competitive outings against both the 12thranked Lady Volunteers and No. 14 Texas A&M in the previous seven days.

“We got better and better and that’s the process,” Kenney said. “We did a great job capitalizing on the good we did against Tennessee.”

LSU’s Danielle Ballard grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end to keep possessions alive. Adrienne Webb scored 12 points and had two steals.

Jasmine Hassell led Georgia with 18 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds. Tiaria Griffin had 10 points, but was one of only two double-digit scorers for Georgia, which shot only 30.1 percent (22 of 73).

“Unfortunately, we didn’t start this game locked in like we wanted,” Georgia Coach Andy Landers said. “There’s no question we played hard and for most of the day we played smart. We didn’t hit shots and missed some good looks at the basket.”

LSU clung to a single-digit lead for nearly the entire second half, but had to regroup after going more than three minutes without a basket while the Lady Bulldogs used an 8-0 run to briefly take the lead, 40-38. Griffin’s jumper started Georgia’s run, then the Lady Bulldogs turned three consecutive steals into fast-break layups.

Shacobia Barbee accounted for two of the steals and Hassell two of the layups.

Plaisance, who leads the SEC in scoring, then made her momentum changing jumper that sent LSU on a run of its own.

NO. 10 KENTUCKY 75, VANDERBILT 53

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A’dia Mathies scored a season-high 28 points, and 10th-ranked Kentucky beat Vanderbilt for the Wildcats’ second consecutive road victory.

The Wildcats (21-3, 9-2) are finishing the regular season with five of their final seven SEC games on the road, and they followed up an overtime victory at Arkansas by taking control late in the first half in this one. Kentucky has won five consecutive in this series while handing Vandy its worst loss this season.

Bria Goss had 15 for Kentucky, while Jennifer O’Neill and Samarie Walker each had 10.

Vanderbilt (15-8, 5-5) has lost five of its last eight, and the Commodores are 1-6 against teams currently ranked in the Top 25.

Tiffany Clarke led the Commodores with 20 points. Christina Foggie had 12 before being knocked out of the game with an injured right knee, and Jasmine Lister had 10.

NO. 12 TENNESSEE 97, MISSISSIPPI 68

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Meighan Simmons scored 24 points and four of her teammates also scored at least 10 points as No. 12 Tennessee rolled to a victory over Mississippi.

The Lady Volunteers shot 59.4 percent (38 of 64) and beat the Rebels for the 24th consecutive time. Ole Miss (8-15, 1-9 SEC) hasn’t beaten Tennessee since a 78-72 victory on Feb. 4, 1996.

Bashaara Graves had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee (19-5, 10-1). Taber Spani and Nia Moore each added 12 points, while Kamiko Williams had 11 points. Spani hadn’t scored and Moore hadn’t played at all in Tennessee’s last game, a 64-62 victory at LSU on Thursday. Moore’s 12 points represented a career high for the freshman center.

Diara Moore scored 16 points, Gracie Frizzell had 12 points and Danielle McCray added 11 points for Mississippi.

NO. 14 TEXAS A&M 50, NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA 48

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Kelsey Bone scored scored 15 points, including the game-winning basket with 8.7 seconds left, in her return to South Carolina as No. 14 Texas A&M outlasted the 15thranked Gamecocks.

Bone was the SEC’s newcomer of the year in 2010 when she was a Gamecocks freshman before transferring. She was bottled up most of the second half by South Carolina’s defense, but grabbed Adrienne Pratcher’s missed three-pointer and went up strong for the decisive basket.

Ieasia Walker’s three-point try was off the mark as South Carolina’s six-game win streak came to an end.

Bone also recorded 15 rebounds.

Pratcher and Courtney Walker each had 10 points for the Aggies (19-5, 9-1).

Ieasia Walker led South Carolina (20-4, 8-3) with 16 points.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Arkansas 91, Alabama 80, OT LSU 62, Georgia 54 Tennessee 97, Mississippi 68 Mississippi State 61, Missouri 56 Texas A&M 50, South Carolina 48 Florida 65, Auburn 57 Kentucky 75, Vanderbilt 53

Sports, Pages 16 on 02/11/2013